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Kinesin-14 motors drive a right-handed helical motion of antiparallel microtubules around each other

Author

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  • Aniruddha Mitra

    (Technische Universität Dresden
    Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
    Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam)

  • Laura Meißner

    (Technische Universität Dresden)

  • Rojapriyadharshini Gandhimathi

    (Technische Universität Dresden
    Institut für Biochemie, ETH Zürich)

  • Roman Renger

    (Technische Universität Dresden
    Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics)

  • Felix Ruhnow

    (Technische Universität Dresden
    University of Melbourne)

  • Stefan Diez

    (Technische Universität Dresden
    Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
    Technische Universität Dresden)

Abstract

Within the mitotic spindle, kinesin motors cross-link and slide overlapping microtubules. Some of these motors exhibit off-axis power strokes, but their impact on motility and force generation in microtubule overlaps has not been investigated. Here, we develop and utilize a three-dimensional in vitro motility assay to explore kinesin-14, Ncd, driven sliding of cross-linked microtubules. We observe that free microtubules, sliding on suspended microtubules, not only rotate around their own axis but also move around the suspended microtubules with right-handed helical trajectories. Importantly, the associated torque is large enough to cause microtubule twisting and coiling. Further, our technique allows us to measure the in situ spatial extension of the motors between cross-linked microtubules to be about 20 nm. We argue that the capability of microtubule-crosslinking kinesins to cause helical motion of overlapping microtubules around each other allows for flexible filament organization, roadblock circumvention and torque generation in the mitotic spindle.

Suggested Citation

  • Aniruddha Mitra & Laura Meißner & Rojapriyadharshini Gandhimathi & Roman Renger & Felix Ruhnow & Stefan Diez, 2020. "Kinesin-14 motors drive a right-handed helical motion of antiparallel microtubules around each other," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 11(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-16328-z
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-16328-z
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